Questions regarding wi-fi connection and data/voice charges.

This is a discussion on Questions regarding wi-fi connection and data/voice charges. within the Motorola Backflip forums, part of the Motorola Android Phones category; Hello everyone.
I am a new to AT&T and Android phones. I have been a T-Mobile customer for years and decided to switch because we ...

Questions regarding wi-fi connection and data/voice charges.

Hello everyone.

I am a new to AT&T and Android phones. I have been a T-Mobile customer for years and decided to switch because we suddenly started having poor/no service in our area over the last month. I really only have a few of questions that I can think of including:

1. When I connect through my Backflips wi-fi connection is my data usage counted towards my data plan? AT&T told me it doesn't but I noticed I am going through a lot of data while my wi-fi is turned on.

2. When I connect through my Backflips wi-fi connection are my voice calls free? I recieved three different answers about this from three different AT&T CSR's so I figured I would ask the people that most likely know the answer...you guys...the users.

3. I use Skype as my home Voip service with the unlimited US subscription. Is there a way to integrate that into my phone to make/recieve free wi-fi calls? I have heard if you have an IPhone you can accomplish this so was curious if the same could be done with my Backflip.

4. I have read on other sites that the AT&T preinstalled apps continously run themselves and eat up data even if I have not used initiated them to do so. Is this true? If so is there a way to prevent this?

5. I see that some of my apps have an exit feature where as others do not. If I choose the exit feature is it completely exiting out of said app? For apps that have no exit feature...how do you completely exit out of them?

6. Is it normal to jump from 3G to wi-fi when bringing the phone back up from a locked screen?

I guess my main concern with AT&T/Backflip is the data usage. I can easily control my minutes on an average month but my data usage seems to be a lot harder to monitor and I don't want to get overages considering I am on a tight budget. I have used the *DATA# feature to try and keep tabs on it but it is continously going up even if I haven't used any apps. I went this morning from having used 6.4 mbs to 160.2 mbs this afternoon and I hadn't done anything....not sent or recieved mail....or browsed or anything...I restarted my phone when I woke up and hadn't done anything when I rechecked it. Just worried I will end up with overages that I cannot afford and I would hate to lose my service because I couldn't afford it.

1-No. Data interactions are done through your wifi router, not the carrier's network.
2-This is probably carrier-dependent. Since I don't use AT&T I'll let someone else answer.
3-You can, in theory, but the Skype apps available for the backflip/android 1.5 that I've tried are very crappy. This might change when 2.1 comes around, though.
4-Most (all?) will run at startup and then only some will stay there. Task Killers help on the most basic level, but the only way to delete them permanently is to root your phone.
5-You can press back until you're at your homescreen or just press the home button itself. Depending on what the app does it may still be running in the background, though.
6-Yes. The wifi adapted goes to sleep when idle to save on battery and comes back up when unlock the phone. Since there's no wifi connectivity available then, 3g/edge takes over and reconnects. This behavior (the wifi sleeping) can be changed through settings menu.

If you're concerned about the data usage growing too large, you can download an app such as APNdroid from the market. It let's you toggle 3g/edge connectivity on or off easily so you just use it when you want to use it.

#2... No. WiFi is totally independent of your Data Plan through AT&T. You could pull your sim card out, turn the phone on, and still access WiFi like normal.
#3... Unlike T-Mobile's UMA service that allows you to place calls over WiFi, there is no other way unless you'd like to get a Google Voice account, or Skype. Though I agree with amingv about the Skype app. It's bloody horrible.
#4... They do run continuously, though I'm not exactly sure if they eat any data while they're running.

your increased data usage is probably due to MotoBlur running. try to limith the social updates where possible... or extend the time between syncs. I basically stopped mine where I could. hopefully will help

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